Comments on: Where Do Your Food Allergy Nonprofit Donations Go?

By: Ruth LovettSmith

Ruth LovettSmith — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:49:18 +0000

Thanks Jamie for the kind comments!

By: Jamie Stern

Jamie Stern — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:48:09 +0000

Wow Ruth, this is very eye-opening. I appreciate all your work on this and will share this post with my local “Allergy Moms” so they can make even more informed decisions as to who they support in the future. You are great!

By: Ruth LovettSmith

Ruth LovettSmith — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:33:00 +0000

Thank you Debra and Janeen for the messages and support. My husband said not to post as it would be perceived as my stirring the pot. However, it is public information and I think people should be aware where their money goes.

Jenny–Thank you for your comment. I’m well aware of how nonprofits roll and completely see/understand your point. I purposely left my opinion out of this post. In fact I made sure to mention that readers need to take several things into account like what part of the country the nonprofit is in regarding expenses and salaries.

I could certainly debate several issues with you, (the issues you brought up have been hot topics in Forbes and on the internet) but would like to keep this post objective–at least on my end. (I welcome others to debate the issues though).

What I will say is that I believe there is a perception of what and how much the above nonprofits do and offer.

This post isn’t meant to keep the nonprofits honest–I don’t have that kind of pull. It’s meant to break down the numbers for readers so that they can invest in the nonprofit that suits them whether that be for research purposes, local services or overall support.

The numbers above are based on 990s for 2008 only. Other 990s can be searched for at the following site:

http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/faqs/html/990-990pf-find.html

By: Ruth LovettSmith

Ruth LovettSmith — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:10:25 +0000

My apologies to Lynda at KFA. A typo had a dollar amount for their occupancy rate–which she informed me should be 0. I’ve adjusted it.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:29:19 +0000

This is VERY interesting and thank you for putting this out there. I want to make a point about non-profits since my husband runs one. Sometimes despite the best efforts of the leaders “stuff happens” and expenses are incurred that may look excessive to us. Also, when you want to attract good people and have them stay, you have to compensate them. Most of the CEOs of a non-profit would be making double or triple their salary at a “for profit.” So lots to think about, of course, but like for-profit business, non-profits have their overhead, unexpected losses and such. I’m just sayin’.

I know you’re trying to “keep ‘em honest” and I do thank you for that. I just have some insider perspective on this issue that I wanted to share.

By: chupieandjsmama

chupieandjsmama — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:02:39 +0000

THANK YOU!! This is great information. Will be putting this link over at WEGO Health later today or tomorrow. You are AWESOME!

By: 9to5to9

9to5to9 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:41:41 +0000

What a FANTASTIC public service you’re doing here. Thanks SO much for all your time and effort – I’ve read a lot of 990s in my life, and they’re not always easy to comb through.

I always look at this type of information before making donations and insist that any nonprofit that wants PR on my blog provide a 990.